The Global Positioning System and Google Earth can tell a drone where it is and what large, permanent obstacles it might encounter, and it can be programmed with its course before it lifts off.
Still, these regulatory hurdles look more like teething problems than permanent obstacles.
Thus, whether this shift becomes a structural problem will depend on how permanent the obstacles faced by the long-term unemployed become and on how effective the policies to help the long-term unemployed, discussed in the following section, have been.
Ms. Gbalajobi's predicament highlights the obstacles permanent residents face when seeking social services, obstacles that American citizens do not.
It cited the government's declaration that the detention operation was not permanent, the practical obstacles raised by it being in a war zone, and the potential negative diplomatic consequences.
Mr. Mapoma tried finding a job, but found that his immigration status as a permanent resident was an obstacle.
"The biggest obstacle is a permanent, sustainable and secure source of funding into the future," he said.
Lula recounts how he once questioned China's president, Hu Jintao, about his opposition to a permanent seat for Japan, one obstacle to reform.
Within the next month, the United States Senate is expected to vote on whether to give China permanent trading status, the final obstacle to China's full entry into the World Trade Organization.
"When would I have started on this enterprise?" Obama's acknowledgement of his limited remaining time in office as an obstacle to effecting permanent change in US gun laws was echoed in an op-ed published in the New York Times on Thursday evening.
